Liturgical Choir: selections from the Mishnah performed in the Jerusalem-Sephardic tradition

Physics deals with ultimate questions on how the world came into being. It is a science that examines particles that are seemingly invisible but are essential to life as we know it. Perhaps that is what drew Dr. Aubey Rotenberg to his dualroles in life as a PhD physicist and a Jewish communal volunteer. As a physicist he studied phenomena invisible to us and in his volunteer work gravitated to the less glamorous, but essential, tasks that aren’t noticed,but are essential to the community.

Aubey was a learned person in both secular and Jewish studies. His passion for science informed his outlook on Jewish life. Aubey took on volunteer tasks that few others were willing to do, and was indispensable. As secretary of the local Solomon Schechter Day School board, longtime chair of the Scholarship Committee Chair, and a gabbai sheni at Congregation Beth Shalom who helped run the Torah reading on Shabbat, he fulfilled some of the most essential roles in his community.

Aubey took part in the custom of studying Pirkei Avot between Shavuot and Rosh Hashanah. Every Shabbat afternoon, he sat down with his three children, Josiah, Ethan and Elizabeth, to work through The Ethics of the Fathers. The Pirkei Avot verse that best exemplified him was: “Who is rich? One who is happy with his portion.” Indeed, Aubey took great pleasure in simple things – eating a meal at home with his family, studying together with his children, serving his community.

The Family’s decision to endow an annual lecture at the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, as well as to provide a scholarship for a Schechter MA student, exemplifies these same values. We are honored that the Rotenberg family decided to endow the annual evening of learning focused on the Jewish texts that Aubey believed should guide a Jew’s life. Aubey Rotenberg’s values live on in the opportunities for learning and study that the lecture and scholarship provide. These gifts are essential, sometimes invisible, particles of enriching Jewish life and learning.

Free admission | Open to the general public | The evening will take place in Hebrew